Drageria
Ch. 29: A short celebration
Location: Japan Hero Association HQ, Time: 9:35 am
Inside the building, secretly tucked away in the most private meeting room of the whole division, several high-ranking heroes, alongside several government officials who work to run the heroes association, were all gathered around a very large table shaped like a cross. The whole room, dimmed of light to keep things calm, didn't help; the entire room was a buzz with so much talk it was defending. Everything was in a frenzy from what happened only months ago. Everything from security to geography and finance was all trying to speak their peace on the whole subject. But it wasn't going anywhere, as expected. Amongst the heroes were Hawks, Endeavor, Eraserhead, Midnight, Mt Lady, Kamui Woods, Death Arms, Gran Torino, Principal Nezu, Gang Orca, Present Mic, Sir Knight Eye, several other lesser-known heroes, and last but not least, All Might. The ladder was ominously silent, giving off a brooding aura of intensity. The huge man was trying to keep himself in check while bandaged up. The only other person who claimed silence was Eraserhead, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here!
Eventually, All Might raised his fist in the chaos and slammed it down with more than enough force to break the area of the table. The act alone was enough to shut everyone up immediately! After a long silence filled the room, one of the government officials spoke.
"Um….well, yes, thank you All Might.", But the hero said nothing in return. The official cleared his throat and said, "Now then, ladies, gentlemen, and heroes of all kinds, I know things are a bit…hectic right now."
"A bit? A bit! How can you call this a bit!?", A hero exclaimed.
"Not only is there an entirely new island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but it's also an entirely new and unknown Country!", said one of the other government officials.
"Let's not forget the "Dark God" that kicked All Might's ass.", Hawks added casually before remembering who was only two seats away, and quickly added, "No offense."
Another hero said, "And the dragons! Are we not going to say anything about the dragons? "
Before things could escalate from there, All Might once again slammed his hand on the table. This time, two different cracks formed where he sat on the opposite end.
"Thank you, again, for that, All Might.", The head official said before clearing his throat and continuing. Now, I know we're all in a frenzy over what was discovered and what happened upon said discovery. But we must keep our grit about us. Panicking will only weaken us further.
"THEN WE MUST TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION! WHO KNOWS WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ALL THOSE PEOPLE UNDER THAT FALSE GOD'S RULE?! IT'S SIMPLY UNFORGIVABLE!", All Might suddenly announced, causing everyone to become on edge due to his previous silence.
"I won't deny the fact that this is most definitely a state of emergency and immediate action must be taken, All Might.", the official agreed with him before telling them, "Saying this, however, we also have to add in all factors at hand. First off, we are dealing with a previously unknown country and know next to nothing about them. Their topography, their army and its size, technology, battle strategies, and so forth. Second is the newly discovered fauna of the country, specifically those dragons. One alone was more than enough to take down an entire battleship nearly. Also, adding in the fact that there are six in total, we are curious if they have anything else like the creatures. And last, of all, we have the "Dark God" that pro hero Hawks so elegantly phrased, "Kicked All Might's butt". Now, I won't be the only one to stand here and say a feat like that is nothing to sneeze at. Also, due to All Might's…. lacking report on his battle with the God, we have no idea what the power difference is."
"Humph, perhaps you're getting slow in your old age, All Might.", Endeavor vexed him, only to get an inter wave of terror to wash over him as the huge man snapped his neck wordlessly in his direction.
While fixing his glasses, Sir Night's eye told him, "You two are the same age. You have no reason to talk, Endeavor."
"I don't see what the big problem is. Why not just grab every hero in Japan, ship them over, and free the captives of the country.", Mt Lady offered.
"Oh yes, Mt Lady. That's a greaaaaaaat idea! Let's just leave all of Japan helpless while we launch a full-scale attack that may not even be successful due to the intervention of a literal God!", Kamui Woods replied sarcastically.
"I was only trying to help.", She pouted back angrily.
"And that brings me to our next point of the congregation: numbers. Although we could no doubt outnumber such a small army, from what I read, the whole population fought back at one point, confounding the situation further.", the head official explained.
"What's the problem?", Hawks asked casually.
"The problem is that we're trying to free the citizens, not fight them!", Death Arms told him off.
"In addition, during our rescue invasion, all of the military troops we sent were nearly wiped out alongside three other heroes perishing.", the official read off the report in his hands.
"Poor Mind Flayer. She didn't deserve that.", Midnight sniffled while wiping tears from her eyes.
"If we did send troops, they would no doubt become cannon fodder, and then the heroes would be next if All Might or any other hero failed to halt the Dark God.", the official explained with an uneasy chill down his back.
"Don't suppose you have any ideas to smooth out this predicament?", Nezu asked him.
The official almost turned pale at the question, and with a shaky breath, he replied, "The…Prime Minister of Japan has issued something that could help us in terms of numbers."
"Well, what is it? Don't leave us in suspense.", Present Mic prompted him.
"Prime Minister Jakie has issued…code 45.", he finally spoke, leading everyone in the room to a unionized gasp.
All except for Hawks, who asked in confusion, "What's code 45?"
"Are you serious? Were you not told about this when you opened your agency?", Endeavor asked incredulously.
"I wasn't paying attention during that lecture.", Hawks answered while shrugging.
While Endeavor slapped his face in frustration, Nezu informed him, "Code 45 is a semi-state of emergency where all hero schools are to put their students on the front lines."
"So…child soldiers?...oh.", Hawks finally realized the gravity of it all, his face growing pale.
"You can't be serious! This is insane!", One hero called out.
The official tried to tell them, "It wasn't my decision to make." only to get a tirade of objections.
"Code 45 is not only crazy but cruel! These children are still learning to throw a punch without breaking their fingers! We can't just slap them into a war zone!", Present Mic yelled while almost letting out his quirk.
"This isn't the Shōwa era during World War 2. We're not at a cataclysmic point that needs children and the elderly to fight.", Eraserhead growled.
"Even with the third years and maybe the second years being more experienced, it's still cruel!", Nezu objected.
"Plus, this isn't even that bad, even for a state of emergency! Sure, they're trapped, but they're not being tortured or worse, dead.", Mt Lady tried to see the positive side of things.
"People, people! Please! PLEASE! SETTLE DOWN!", the official finally got fed up with all the yelling and commanded them to chill. Once quiet again, he ran his hand through his fingers and said, "I understand your hesitation and disagreement with this; however, as I said, it was not my decision to make. It was an order from the Prime Minister herself. I have no authority to disagree.", he said dejectedly, garnering some sympathy from the heroes. "For now, we need to regroup and strategize. To think of a new way to retake our stolen citizens while also dealing with whatever new threats that island countries may throw at us. And if it puts your mind at ease, the Prime Minister may be desperate but not cruel. She said that the students are to be used as retrieval. While we deploy as many heroes and soldiers as possible to keep their military and the God busy while they take any people they can.", he explained.
"That's all fine and dandy, but how much time is the Prime Minister even giving us? The entrance exams are in 10 months?", Nezu asked the biggest question on everyone's mind.
"6 months after the entrance exams.", the official told them.
"Only six months?!", Midnight exclaimed.
"It's more than enough time to run through the basics, is it not?", he asked.
Nezu looked distraught about answering but eventually stated, "It is, but-."
But the official cut him off and continued saying, "Since many of the other principals of the hero school were able to make it due to the timing or the length, a message will be sent explaining everything said here. Until then, I wish you all luck in the time you've been given."
Before anyone could get up, All Might slammed both his hands on the table, causing everyone to jump and break that part of the table as he got up and marched out of the room. Following close to him were Nezu, Sir Night Eye, and Gran Torino. They followed the huge man until he came to an overlook of the building with a large window overlooking the city. He stood there and just looked out as the other heroes caught up to him.
"All Might, I understand-.", Nezu tried to sympathize with him, only to be snapped back by his anger.
"OH OF COURSE YOU DO!", he practically yelled at the mouse man.
Nezu sighed and tried again, this time saying, "Please, I know how much this must hurt you—having to sit here and wait when you know you could do something. But it's simply not in our best interest."
"I KNOW.", All Might replied with a dejected tone, looking at the ground, his shoulders quaking.
Gran Torino laughed at him and, poking his leg with his cane, he told him, "You always did wear your heart on your sleeve there, brat. But you gotta be using the head as well. We need to think up a counter. Otherwise, you may not get out of your next fight with minor injuries."
"I JUST-!", All Might tried to say before falling off, his lips quivering. Sir Night Eye placed a hand on his shoulder, and as the huge man took a steady breath, he admitted, "IT'S FRUSTRATING!" "WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT WACKO IS DOING TO THOSE POOR PEOPLE! WHAT HORRORS HE'S SUBJECTING THEM TO."